Opinion: There are plenty of reasons private institutes are on the rise, but plan to kill public education isn’t one of them

Enrolment is rising at independent schools, such as St. George’s School, while enrolment declines in the public system. Among likely reasons: Parents like private schools’ formal structure and a curriculum determined by educators instead of bureaucrats and teachers’ unions.

Photograph by: Jenelle Schneider
, PNG

It’s a common enough rumour and you might hear it in school staff rooms every time the Fraser Institute schools ranking is published. There will be somebody who opines that the decline in public school enrolment and the increasing enrolment in independent schools is evidence of a government/Fraser Institute/business interests plot to privatize the entire public education system.

It is the kind of grassy knoll/moon landing/Da Vinci theory that is attractive to some but ignores demographics, economics and history.

Common sense tells us the logistics and cost of privatizing education for 564,000 kids may be well beyond the organizational capacity of either the government or the Fraser Institute.

Enrolment in B.C.’s public schools has declined by close to 96,000 students since the 2001 school year. Ministry of Education projections show the numbers climbing slowly again beginning in 2017 or earlier.

There are reasons for this decline although nobody knows exactly what those reasons are.

One theory is that the young family demographic shifted to other provinces. Alberta, where work may be easier to find, has a public school population that has risen from 403,00 to 462,00 since 2003.

Some 185,00 of those kids are in Grades 1-6 while there are 114,00 in Grades 10-12. That should mean that Alberta’s school population will continue to grow as the younger kids move forward by grade.

Another theory is that confidence in the resource economy in B.C. has been shaken by layoffs and shutdowns in smaller communities.

Population shifts within the province have cost school districts like Cariboo Chilcotin, Quesnel, Powell River, Prince Rupert and Stikine while Surrey, Langley and the Comox Valley have seen small increases in the student population.

An aging population and declining birthrate could be part of this as well.

At the same time, enrolment in B.C.’s independent schools has increased by about 14,000 since 2001, 4,000 of whom joined independent schools in the past four years. This includes some premium fee-paying international students.

Again, there are reasons for this increase but it’s probably more about choice, religious and otherwise.

Public schools are secular. There is no religious instruction in public schools and for families for whom organized religion is an important aspect of daily life that is an issue.

There was at one time a provision in the School Act (section 167) requiring that “all public schools shall be opened by the reading, without explanation or comment, of a passage of Scripture …. followed by the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, but otherwise the schools shall be conducted on strictly secular and non-sectarian principles.”

In 1989, there was a challenge to section 167 and it was removed. Humanists celebrated and a few families began slowly to move kids into church-based and other independent schools.

There are other reasons why some families choose independent schools.

Independent schools enjoy a select population chosen by them and are under no obligation to accept everybody as are public schools.

The provision in independent schools of sports, performing arts, tutorial and hours of instruction are determined by the school and are not limited by contractual conflict or labour relations decisions.

Some parents perceive independent schools as providing a more formally structured program and this has become more of an issue with the introduction of B.C.’s new and progressive Education Plan which, as yet, has only been outlined in very general terms.

Specifics describing what the plan will look like as day-to-day practice in classrooms may eventually allay some parental anxiety.

In the meantime, the notion that “students will play an active role in designing their own education” may have unsettled some families who are not sure what that will look like on the ground.

Independent schools charge fees but have, since 1989 received 50 per cent of the per capita funding provided to public schools.

This bothers some public school defenders who forget two things: Firstly, all taxpayers support public education even if their kids do not attend a public school.

Secondly, if there were there no independent schools government would be funding 73,000 more kids at full price.

The cost of public education would balloon by something like $30 million in operating costs alone. Then there would be capital, maintenance, transportation and the need for many more public dollars.

Say what you will, it seems that an economy in transition and choices made within families are the real culprits in recent declining public school enrolment.

Geoff Johnson is a retired superintendent of schools. His own son graduated from public school.

Enrolment is rising at independent schools, such as St. George’s School, while enrolment declines in the public system. Among likely reasons: Parents like private schools’ formal structure and a curriculum determined by educators instead of bureaucrats and teachers’ unions.

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